ROANOKE - The 40-year coaching career of Waynesboro basketball coach C. Jay DeWitt came to an end Tuesday night as Northside halted the Little Giants' postseason run in the quarterfinals of the 3A West Basketball Tournament.

DeWitt's Giants came within one game of advancing to the state tournament and ran into a deep and talented Northside team which prevailed 64-45 at home.

"You kinda know when it's time (to retire from coaching)," DeWitt said. "We had a good bunch of seniors this season."

The Little Giants, who made an even longer trip down I-81 on Monday night and came away with a first-round win over Abingdon, got off to a slow start as the Vikings (24-1) scored the first six points.

Steffan Thornton assisted Zach Hatter for Waynesboro's first basket at the 4:18 and the Little Giants gradually worked themselves back into the game.

Trailing 16-10 after the first period, the Giants outscored Northside 10-4 to start the second quarter.

The visitors' rally was snuffed out as All-State Kendrick Tucker swished through a long three-pointer and Waynesboro never caught up again.

Northside scored 11 unanswered points and increased its lead to 31-22 at the half.

The Vikings' pressure defense wore down the Little Giants in the third period as Northside held Waynesboro to just five third-quarter points.

"They took us out of what we wanted to do," DeWitt said. "They're a real strong team and they outplayed us."

Led by senior DeVante Robinson, the Little Giants made the game more interesting down the stretch and got as close as 12 points on two occasions in the fourth quarter.

But Northside pulled away again and ended the game on a 10-3 run.

Tuesday's game marked the end of 40 years of coaching for DeWitt, who was head football coach for 14 years at Waynesboro before becoming the head basketball coach 14 years ago.

"This was the second team I've had that had three straight winning seasons," DeWitt said. "The guys this year got better (19-8) each year."